by Imani King
Here she was, and my memories hadn’t done her justice. I watched as she smiled and laughed with Abby and my Aunt Sylvie, who was sitting on her other side. Despite the fact that there was a hall full of people who were watching our every move, she seemed relaxed. Being part of a royal wedding party wasn’t for the faint of heart, and I had to admire that she appeared to be taking it all in stride.
I was annoyed that my mother had decided to interrupt us earlier. She had been keeping a closer eye than ever on me lately; something I knew had a direct correlation to the fact that my own engagement announcement was just around the corner. Christmas at the latest. That was six months away, but it still felt as if my head was already on the chopping block.
It had all been decided just a few weeks ago. After what seemed like years of vetting every single noblewoman within the European Union who was of marriageable age, my parents had finally come to a decision. The calls had been made, and the deal had been done. My involvement in the whole process had been negligible, which would have been laughable if it wasn’t my entire future that was being discussed. But any effort I made to be included in the decision had been quickly rebuffed. Instead, I was assured that they knew what was better for me and Sorenia than I did.
But that was the way of arranged marriages after all. My say in the matter wasn’t required or welcomed. My parents had made that point abundantly clear. Someday, I would be king. To secure the right relationships, to ensure the integrity and reputation of the family line, I would not be granted such an exception as Kian to do something as foolish as follow my heart and marry the wrong person; especially a commoner. Sorenia was not as progressive as Britain or some of the other less traditional countries in the Union at all in that regard.
I often thought Prince William was a lucky bastard.
Of course, having my future bride selected for me did take all of the pressure off of any flights of fancy that caught my attention in the meantime. My parents had indulged in my desire to sow my wild oats over the years, but it was because of my reputation that my mother was pulling the reins in on my marriage plans. I needed to cool my royal heels and “keep it in my pants.” Those had been her words, not mine.
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as I thought about her direct order. Eva Wilson would prove to be a wild distraction in my ability to do as my mother wished. I didn’t think there was any way in hell that I would be able to keep my hands off of Eva, assuming I could finagle my way back into her good graces.
I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders as the room began to clear, and the guests moved into the room next door where the dancing would take place. I excused myself from Uncle Robart mid-story, not really feeling all that bad at the miffed expression on his face.
“Eager for the first dance?” Kian said as he stood as well. He had a gleam in his eye that told me he knew exactly why I would be eager for the next part of the evening to commence.
“The room is feeling a bit stuffy. I just need to stretch my legs, that’s all,” I said. “I’m sure you are eager to get out of here and get your true wedding night started.”
My younger brother blushed, which surprised me. The whole courtship with Abby had surprised me, though. In all of my pursuits, Kian had been my partner in crime. He and I had traveled the world and bedded far more than our fair share of beautiful women. But that had stopped cold for him with Abby. I was happy for him and mystified at the same time. Our parents had been mortified, but Kian had somehow managed to charm them into accepting his decision. My brother, ever the peacekeeper, was the counter to my hellion. We both played our parts well.
“Hopefully, you aren’t going to embarrass me too terribly in front of all of these people,” Kian said as we moved toward the dance hall. I noticed that Abby had hung back and was talking in hushed tones now with Eva. I caught several furtive glances from the women in my direction. I wasn’t an idiot, and it made me feel good that as unaffected as Eva tried to be. I was under her skin just as she was under mine.
“It’s your wedding day. Would I do anything like that?” I said in my most innocent tone. I laughed at the worried expression on his face. If there was anyone who could expose the skeletons in Kian’s closet, it was me. I knew all of them, but of course, that went both ways. Which was the reason that despite my ribbing at his expense, I had no intention of saying anything inappropriate during my upcoming toast.
I strode across the room to the stage and had a quick word with the band’s manager. A waiter came by with a tray of glasses of champagne, and it occurred to me to take the whole thing. Then I caught my mother’s warning look as she and my father swept into the room and resisted the urge to do something comical that I knew they wouldn’t appreciate.
Taking a singular flute with a bit of regret, I stepped forward to the microphone. I was used to being announced to get everyone’s attention, but today everyone was expecting, perhaps even waiting with bated breath, to hear what I was about to say. The room went silent in less than ten seconds. Impressive, even for me.
I was used to public appearances and speaking in front of large crowds. It was part of what was expected of me being part of the royal family. The amount of pressure to always be on and always be perfect had been a grind as a teenager, but eventually, it was something that I had settled into. No matter what my mother might think, I took my responsibilities to my country seriously. It had been instilled in me since the day I was born, after all.
Nodding to the crowd and making eye contact with several of the key guests from particularly powerful and influential families, I began my prepared speech.
“Today is a great day for Sorenia. My brother, Prince Kian, bowled us all over a few months ago when he shared with us the fantastic news that he had fallen in love.” I heard the murmurs as eyes drifted away from me to Kian and Abby, who had moved to stand in front of me. Eva was doing her best to hide behind Abby, but my eyes found hers nonetheless, and I gave her a crooked smile.
“To find that kind of overwhelming, deep connection with someone is rare and something to be cherished. Ever since we were children, my brother has been looking for that one special someone to share his life and to cherish as our parents always taught us.” The prerequisite nod to our supposedly perfect upbringing. Check.
“I invite all of you to help me welcome Abigail Palmer to our country and our family. Abigail, we are thankful that you held in your heart the missing piece to Kian’s, and I wish the two of you every happiness. Congratulations!” Flowery prose followed by a call to action that drew the assembled mass of bodies into thoroughly boisterous, congratulatory cheers. Check.
I lifted my glass into the air toasting the couple and took a deep draught emptying it in one swallow even as the band behind me began to play the first song. Kian swept Abby up into his arms and planted a firm kiss on her lips. If I wasn’t mistaken, he even slipped her some tongue. Mother would be outraged if she saw the gesture. Oh well. It was their day after all.
I loosened my tie as I slipped off of the stage. Everyone’s attention was back on Kian and Abby as they began the steps of their first dance as man and wife. I hoped that Abby had boned up on her waltzes. If there was one thing that could be counted on in her future, it was an endless array of stuffy, boring balls.
I wasn’t interested in watching them dance, though. Instead, I was intent on finding my dance partner for the next song before she managed to find some new excuse to avoid me. I found her just as she was attempting to slip out of the door into the hallway.
“Ah, ah, ah,” I said wagging a finger at her. “The Maid of Honor is required for this next song.”
“I need to go powder my nose,” she argued clearly looking for an escape route.
The last note of the opening song rang out in the air followed by a pause. “Will the rest of the wedding party please join the Prince and his lovely bride on the dance floor?” one of the band members called out.
I saw Eva’s grimace even as I offered her
my arm. She was trapped, and she knew it. I leaned over as I led her out onto the dance floor. I caught a whiff of her perfume. Lilacs and vanilla. It was soft and haunting, just like her. “It won’t be so bad,” I promised.
“Let’s just get this over with,” she whispered back.
She was proving to be a tougher nut to crack than I expected. As we lined up, and she moved into my arms, I wondered what it was going to take to pry her out of her shell.
“You confuse me, Eva,” I said as I leaned closer to her ear. I felt her tremble in my arms. I had no idea why she was fighting me. It would be so much easier and pleasurable for both of us if she just gave in.
“Because I won’t fall all over you like every other woman in the world?” She refused to meet my eyes.
“I never took you for a royal groupie, or whatever that delightful American term is,” I said. “No, it’s that I thought we had a great time in Gibraltar.”
She pulled her lower lip into her mouth. It was one of her tells that I had already memorized. It meant that she wanted to lie, but something was holding her back. “That was a one-time thing. We both knew that going in. I mean, you’re a crown prince, for Pete’s sake.”
“So that means I can’t enjoy the company of a beautiful woman?” I asked.
“You are getting married next spring, right?”
I rolled my eyes. “Eons away.”
“What’s her name?” she pressed.
I struggled with how transparent I wanted to be with her. Then I realized that if I wanted Eva back in my bed, and I did, it would be incredibly unfair to make it appear that it was anything else. I had a future that couldn’t include a long-term dalliance with an American student.
“Imogen.” My voice was stiff. “Look, I like you, Eva. That hasn’t changed. You are going to be spending the summer here in Sorenia. It seems to make sense that we might enjoy spending some time together again.”
“I’m probably going to go back to Glasgow in a few days,” Eva said. “I know Abby wants me to stay, but I’m not going to crowd her and Kian. They just got married. They don’t need a house guest for the summer cramping their style, and I can’t afford to rent a flat here.”
“I have a brilliant idea, then,” I said. “You can stay in my villa. It’s empty for the summer, other than myself, or course, and it’s off the palace grounds, so you’ll have plenty of privacy.”
My mother would be less than thrilled once she found out about this plan, but I didn’t care. The idea that Eva was going to slip away from me so quickly when I had just found her again was unthinkable.
I could see that Eva looked equally concerned about this idea. “Why? So you can have a booty call all summer?”
She was entirely too savvy for her good. It was a bit irksome, though. Most women would be jumping at the chance to spend the summer with me in my villa.
“I’m just thinking of you and your friend. I’m sure Abby will have a much easier time with her adjustment to royal life if she has her best friend close by, don’t you think?” I knew that playing the Abby card was my best bet to win this particular game.
I could see that she was still struggling with the idea as the closing notes of the song began to roll through the air. I had to sway her the rest of the way quickly, and I was running out of time.
“I promise to be a good little prince in the meantime. No pushing or prodding for anything else, unless, of course, you want that.” Eva was still gnawing on her lower lip when I decided to make an executive decision. “I’ll have the staff move your things into the villa. Try out for a night, and if you don’t like it, you can leave whenever you want. At least tonight, you won’t feel like you are interfering with the newlyweds. But I have a feeling that when all this wedding business settles, Abby will be more than happy to have you close by.”
She slowly gave a nod of assent, and I felt my heart begin to race. It wouldn’t be long now before I broke down the rest of her walls.
“One night. If you do anything fishy, I’m out of here tomorrow.”
I gave her one of my most charming smiles. “I have a feeling by tomorrow, you won’t want to be anywhere else.”
I bowed to her and stepped away before she could say anything else. I had a running list of tasks that I needed to give my personal assistant before Eva had a chance to change her mind.
CHAPTER THREE
Who was I kidding?
Although Aidan was nothing but a perfect gentleman for the rest of the evening, and in fact, I barely saw him, I knew exactly what he was planning. He thought if he could get me to his villa, I would just fall into bed with him, and he could claim victory in our little game of thrust and parry.
The truth was, there was an itch I was desperate to scratch. Being in his arms as he swept me around the dance floor had been magical in a kind of way that I couldn’t even describe. Even though we had had our fair share of bumps during our brief one-week relationship, mostly I remembered how fun Aidan had been to be around. He was nothing like the perception I had always held that members of a royal family were buttoned up, humorless, and acted a bit like robots.
He had an easy laugh that caused everyone around him to laugh as well. He knew a lot about too many subjects to count, and many of our conversations both in and out of bed had been intellectually stimulating. But, of course, the connection that had been the strongest was the physical one without a doubt. That’s what I had been reminded of the most by dancing with him.
When he had leaned down to speak to me, I had felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up in heightened awareness of his closeness as his warm breath caressed my earlobe. It was as if the man knew exactly what button to push inside of me that pushed a crazy rush of desire straight to my core and sent my blood pounding in my temples. I couldn’t deny that I wanted him, and I usually wasn’t the type of girl that was shy about going after what she wanted. It was just that in Aidan’s case, I sensed that the lines could get blurry quickly. That was one complication in my life I didn’t need. No way.
I had pulled Abby aside halfway through the reception and told her about Aidan’s suggestion. Unlike me, who was feeling lukewarm about the whole idea, she wholeheartedly threw her support behind it. She had also reminded me that she didn’t know what she would do if I didn’t stay the summer.
I knew that she would be more than happy to have me stay with her and Kian, but I had no intention of being a party crasher on somebody’s honeymoon. I wanted the newlyweds to have all the time and space they needed. Staying at Aidan’s villa seemed like the perfect compromise, because honestly, I didn’t want to go home yet either. I have nothing waiting for me there but an empty flat and happy memories of hanging out all the time with my now married best friend who was never coming back. Meanwhile, I would be depressed and alone. Being in Sorenia with Abby seemed like a much better alternative, even though the whole plan came with Aidan attached as well.
By the time the reception ended, I didn’t see Aidan anywhere. I had no idea where I was supposed to go and no idea if my things were going to be transferred there like he said. Then a woman appeared at my arm. “Ms. Wilson. My name is Sarah. I am Ms. Ilves’s personal assistant. Prince Aidan asked me to find you and give this to you.” She saw my confused look. “Ms. Ilves, as in the former Ms. Palmer.”
Abby had a personal assistant already? Apparently, this was how things were done in the royal family. I put that whole idea to the side as I looked at the piece of paper in my hand. It had directions and a map. Based on what I saw on the picture, it looked like the villa was within walking distance just outside of the palace grounds. I could have probably asked someone for a ride, but I thought that the cold night air would help clear my head, and so I decided to walk.
As I watched the caravan of limousines leaving the palace grounds, I found a small walking path just on the other side of the driveway, just as was indicated on the map. I walked along it marveling at my surroundings. Being in a place like this was somewhere I would
normally only get to explore on some scheduled, guided public tour. Being able to wander about the grand buildings in the middle of the night was surreal. I wondered what it had been like to grow up there. Perhaps that was something I would ask Aidan the next time I saw him. I realized that I wasn’t quite sure when that was, but there was another part of me that firmly believed it would be sooner rather than later based on his cocky expression after our dance.
I had watched him throughout the evening. He had been surrounded by several young women of marriageable age. I had caught him looking at me several times as well. We were doing an entirely different kind of dance then, he and I. Each time our eyes connected, he had given me a wicked smile and nod of the head that didn’t fail to cause me to flush. I was stupid to think that he was interested in me in any way other than the bedroom.
He was about to be engaged to someone else shortly. He had said her name was Imogen. What kind of name was that? It held that stick-up-the-butt conservative ring to it that I would expect from someone who belonged to an apparently preferred noble blood line.
The whole idea of having to marry someone because of the family they had been born into seemed incredibly outdated in this day and age, but then again, I hadn’t grown up being royalty. I would never know what life was like on that side of the fence. My rural southern upbringing gave me a little idea for a comparison point. I wasn’t the type of girl that would be someone like a prince would marry.
This thought made me cranky. It just seemed wrong that if you had feelings for someone, and they were the person that you thought you should be with, that some law got to dictate if you could or couldn’t be with them. That was the biggest reason I could not let myself get too deeply involved with Aidan. He was so charming; I sensed that he could find his way around the barriers that I had so carefully erected to keep him out of my life and potentially even my heart. The idea was unacceptable given the circumstances.
It was only a few minutes later that I exited the palace grounds at a gate in the exterior stone wall. There was a guard standing watch there, which took me by surprise. He looked equally surprised until I told him where I was going. Then the look on his face made me think that I wasn’t the first girl who had slipped through the palace walls looking for Aidan’s villa. It made me wonder how many other girls Aidan had invited there over the years.
